Impact of customer integration on project portfolio management and its success—Developing a conceptual framework

The growing number of company projects requires comprehensive management, project portfolio management (PPM), for strategic alignment and efficient use of resources. In parallel, companies face customers demanding higher value, and joint value creation with customers is considered a key success factor in the future. Project portfolios delivering products and services for customers implicate a link between PPM and an increased customer focus. Combining the research fields of marketing and PPM for the first time, this study proposes customer integration into PPM. I develop a framework describing the impact of customer integration into PPM on project portfolio success mediated through relationship value. Furthermore, the study describes relevant aspects for customer integration on the project portfolio level and identifies interfaces for cross-functional integration of a customer portfolio representative within the PPM process. The findings and limitations of this study are discussed, and further research is suggested.     

Knowledge leadership to improve project and organizational performance

Conceptualizing knowledge leadership and customer knowledge management (CKM) in the project context is still rudimentary. Thus, the first objective of this study is to assess the associations among knowledge leadership, customer knowledge management, the performance of a precision instrument sales (PIS) project, and organizational performance. The second objective is to determine whether project performance may mediate the effect of customer knowledge management on organizational performance. The third objective is to examine the moderating role of data complexity in the relationship between customer knowledge management and project performance. This study empirically investigated a sample of precision instrument sales projects in Taiwanese high-tech industry. The findings indicate that adoption of knowledge leadership is associated with customer knowledge management. In addition, these analyses suggest that implementation of customer knowledge management influences organizational performance via project performance. The results also show that the positive relationship between customer knowledge management and project performance depends on data complexity.     

价值链在房地产开发企业管理信息系统中的应用

价值链是构建企业管理信息系统的常用分析工具之一。基于价值链理论,探讨了房地产开发企业价值链及其价值活动,从战略规划、设计开发和运行评价等3个角度构建了房地产开发企业管理信息系统的基本框架,并阐述了价值链理论在3个不同阶段中的应用内容,即价值链整合、价值链分析和价值链会计。通过引入价值链的思想,房地产开发企业管理信息系统聚焦于能够带来客户价值提升的核心活动,最大程度提高信息资源在企业中的有效利用,使房地产开发企业从中获得成本领先和差异化等方面的竞争优势。     

The role of organizational culture and leadership in water safety plan implementation for improved risk management

Appropriate implementation of WSPs offers an important opportunity to engage in and promote preventative risk management within water utilities. To ensure success, the whole organization, especially executive management, need to be advocates. Illustrated by two case studies, we discuss the influence of organizational culture on buy-in and commitment to public health protection and WSPs. Despite an internal desire to undertake risk management, some aspects of organizational culture prevented these from reaching full potential. Enabling cultural features included: camaraderie; competition; proactive, involved leaders; community focus; customer service mentality; transparency; accountability; competent workforce; empowerment; appreciation of successes, and a continual improvement culture. Blocking features included: poor communication; inflexibility; complacency; lack of awareness, interest or reward and coercion. We urge water utilities to consider the influence of organizational culture on the success and sustainability of WSP adoption, and better understand how effective leadership can mould culture to support implementation.     

Maintaining technology leadership through improved technologystrategy implementation

Excellent product development performance is no longer enough to maintain a leadership position in technology-driven industries. Faced with competition from new technologies and rapid introductions of new products by their competitors, leading companies are beginning to focus on improving technology management, the link between product strategy and product development. This article reviews how companies can achieve significant R&D performance improvements by implementing the technology management best practices used by leading companies to manage the development and implementation of new technologies     

中国工程机械代理商赢利模式的分析与创新（二）

本文作者郑巧山是厦门大学的MBA，拥有多年的工程机械行业从业经验，现在国内某工程机械制造企业做市场策划，对工业品和消费品营销领域、工业品的营销管理和品牌策划以及商业模式的选择有自己独到的见解。     

Ideas factory: planning for success

The success rate of new product development (NPD) investments is a vital concern for companies that depend on new products in order to keep pace with the market and stay ahead of their competitors. Such companies need to be able to justify re-investment in NPD. A poor NPD success rate not only affects current business performance, it also makes it harder to attract further investment. A strong NPD success rate leads to growth and shareholder value. Organisations wishing to improve their NPD success rate through better market focus will benefit from an inbound marketing programme and management role. This is a challenging and subtle position that could add immeasurable value to a business over time - depending on whether the inbound marketing manager is able to outperform his or her counterparts from competing companies.     

Patterns of empowerment and leadership style in project environment

The current study explores the relationship of empowerment, leadership style and customer service as a measure of effective project management in projects with varying degree of virtuality. The study makes comparisons of empowerment climate in less and more virtual projects. Moreover, the study examines moderating effects of degree of virtuality on the relationship between empowerment and leadership style. We test our hypotheses with data collected from project management professionals working in five countries using linear regression and moderated regression analysis to analyze the proposed hypotheses.     

Service management in housing refurbishment: a theoretical approach

It is unusual to find that housing refurbishment projects have been undertaken with a clear focus on customer orientation directed towards the tenants, or owners of cooperative flats or condominiums. Only recently have researchers in construction management begun to look closer at the relationship between contractors and customers. To assess the scope for customer orientation in the refurbishment industry, current thinking in service management is reviewed here in an attempt to identify principles with implications for housing refurbishment. There is a consensus among service management investigators that services are intangible; other often mentioned characteristics are heterogeneity, perishability, and the inseparability of production and consumption. Except for inseparability these characteristics are valid for refurbishment. Nevertheless, features such as the long turn-round time, the number of participants, the complexity and the uncertainty, distinguish housing refurbishment from most services. There is strong empirical support for the claim that customer satisfaction increases customer loyalty and gives the service producer a positive reputation, ultimately increasing profitability. It is concluded that this insight can be interpreted operationally for housing refurbishment projects, bearing in mind that the tenant or the owner of a cooperative flat is the customer's customer.     

Leadership,regulatory focus and information systems development project team performance

One primary function of a leader is to motivate followers to achieve project goals. Based on regulatory focus theory, actors may strive to the optional situation (promotion focus) or try to avoid not meeting the minimum requirements (prevention focus). This paper focuses on exploring the effect of leadership styles (transformational and transactional) on the collective regulatory focus of project team (promotion and prevention) and investigate the relationship between regulatory focus and project teamwork outcome. Data collected from 154 IS professionals shows that intelligent stimulation, idealized influence, and inspiration components of transformational leadership lead to promotion focus, and exception management and error-focus components of transactional leadership lead to prevention focus. Promotion focus associates with a higher quality system and less delay. The relationship between regulatory focus and project performance is contingent on the level of uncertainty.     

QC七工具在混凝土工程控制中的应用

混凝土生产企业为了适应激烈的市场竞争,谋求发展,管理者们越来越注重产品的质量管理,以此来提高客户的满意度,赢得市场。本文简要阐述了QC七工具基本应用原理,并结合混凝土工程质量控制案例进行了说明。在混凝土生产及其应用的各个环节,加强对QC七工具灵活运用,可以不断提高分析问题和解决问题的能力。     

Identifying management research priorities

An agenda for management research can be set by the academic community with more or less input from practising managers. The purpose of this note is to describe a model for collecting, structuring and analysing practitioner views of what should be the priorities for construction management research. A meeting with construction sector participants gave rise to proposals that were consolidated into 20 management themes. Next, a questionnaire sent to 260 individuals received 140 responses where these themes had been ranked and the strength of recent industry development for each theme assessed. Results show that high priority was assigned to leadership issues and identification of customer needs. The process should be possible to replicate abroad, although cultural differences are expected to influence priorities.     

将“精益”融入企业文化

对企业而言,精益生产方式在组织生产运作中有着无与伦比的优势,但大多数企业精益转型的努力结果却并不令人满意,主要原因是人们忽视了一个至关重要的因素——企业文     

Leadership challenges in an engineering environment

Leadership has evolved through history and will continue to do so as the business environment develops. The business environment is moving rapidly towards one of global markets and competition, employees based in many countries and flexible places and hours of work. A new type of leader is required, one who understands the value of information technology, one who can satisfy customer and shareholder expectations, and the greater aspirations of employees. The reliance placed on engineering products in today's business environment makes it clear that the contribution that engineers make is vastly underestimated. Engineers and the industries in which they work are vital for creating the wealth of the UK. This paper looks at leadership in UK industry and the role engineers need to play, as leaders     

试论科技型企业的主要技术特征及科研管理

科研院所围晟科技型企业是市场经济发展的必然趋势,本文分析新转制的科技企型业的主要技术特点和进入市场后和自身弱点,探讨了科技型企业的经营方向和工作重点;提出了科技型企业科研管理要树立“以产品为中心”的大科研管理粗浅框架。     

Project risk management methodology for small firms

We present a project management methodology designed for small businesses (SMEs), who need to run projects beyond their normal operations. These projects are critical to the survival of these organisations, such as the development of new products to adapt to the market or new legislation, management system implementations, etc. Very frequently, the managers of these projects are not project management professionals, so they need guidance to have autonomy, using minimal time and documentation resources. The risk management method outlined in this paper is based on extensive research with a large number (72) of Spanish companies. This new methodology considers the factors that are usually neglected by SMEs; i.e., project alignment with the company's strategy and results management. The methodology, based on project risk management, includes simple tools, templates and risk checklists with recommended actions and indicators. For validation it was tested in five different types of real projects (innovation, management systems and ICT implementation) of industrial and service companies with different characteristics.     

Leadership training

The theories and practices developed within military training establishments are equally applicable to any group, large or small, for which leadership is required rather than management. Once leadership is fully understood, the 'great man' and 'conventional wisdom' theories can be used to develop a leadership-training scheme. The key to any leadership training scheme is the development of the inherent 'good' qualities a person possesses. This article exposes those areas that are fundamental to the development of our leaders and which are: establishment of a common vocabulary and a context in which to place the leadership discussion and an understanding of what leadership is about; the need for an organisation to be clear on its vision, mission and values; the identification of those leadership qualities required within your organisation and then raising the self-awareness of the people involved; that leadership is a development journey, which never ends, starting at the tactical level, then operational and then strategic and that any training scheme must be holistic in its approach and go from cradle to grave; and that leaders need to be given the tools to do the job, to allow them to make decisions based on knowledge and not the seat of their pants. This allows a training package to be produced which covers these key areas: the context; basic theories; self-awareness; practical consolidation; on the job training; and coaching and mentoring     

用户满意与企业满意均衡的思考

经济发展至今,市场需求已经进入了用户满意时代,在工程机械市场中满足用户需求的竞争已经愈演愈烈。用户满意程度影响到用户对制造商品牌的期待、信赖程度,制造商的一切努力归结到用户满意度水平的高低,体现出产品和服务满足市场需求程度。满足用户需求程度高低,反映出为制造商带来的效益水平,映射出制造商在后市场发展中的竞争潜力。     

居住小区的策划

居住小区目标客户、房型和每套总价的开发定位,要得到消费者的认同,在激烈竞争的商海中创造市场优势,必须做好市场信息调查,信息的质量远比数量重要,尤其是对所在地区市场信息的分析和提升,突出小区建设的“亮点”、“异点”,创立一个与竞争对手不同的品牌形象,品牌是消费者可以信赖的质量和服务及由此折射出使用者的地位、身价。     

建筑施工企业提升安全生产绩效的六项领导策略

一些建筑施工企业在安全生产方面存在的领导不足、管理有余现象,在一定程度上制约了企业安全生产绩效的提高。实际上,领导和管理是有联系也有区别的,二者功能各有不同。建筑施工企业领导者在加强领导功能以提高安全生产绩效方面可以采用以下策略:共建愿景、文化凝聚、外部合作、多元激励、系统思维和长远决策。